Update from the Knitting Retreat

I've been busy recovering from a lovely bout of strep. I'm still not up to par, but I able to sit upright for more than 30 minutes at a time. Last weekend I went to a knitting retreat in Boone, NC. It was wonderful!!!! It was hosted by Baskets of Yarn which is located in Charlotte. Betsy, the owner, is a joy. We stayed at Appalachian State University in the Broyhill Inn. This was a great place to have the retreat because: (1) Everything was provided for us in one location: food, room and classrooms, (2) the location was beautiful, and (3) it was only 2 hours from a major airport. I was really impressed with the classes offered. My favorite was the Noni Night Garden Felted Evening Bag. Here a picture of it completed. I have one more flower to finish and then I can felt mine and put it together:
I also really liked the Chimera Coat class. I learned a better way to increase than I had been using and how to knit two sleeves at the same time. I really like the yarn we are using. Is Lana Gatto's Chimera. Here is the pattern picture and the colorway I picked:


The one class I wasn't totally thrilled with was the lace class. The yarn we used was an amazingly fine mohair. While the yarn was gorgeous, it was a challenge to work with. I found myself struggling with the yarn instead of focusing on the lace knitting.


Of course the best part of the retreat was reconnecting with my knitsibs! It was so great seeing Jodi, Linda and Melissa. They are so much fun! I can't remember the last time I laughed so much. As soon as I picked them up at the airport it was as if we had never been apart.


My roomie was Melissa. She is so amazing. She's funny, cute and brilliant. Check it out: She's an engineer at Motorola. Her divorce was final a couple of weeks ago so we could lick out wounds together. One night we were sitting in our room knitting and listening to tunes from my iPod and I swear I could hear her thoughts. I looked at her and said, "Don't you feel like we are back in college?" She squealed that she was just thinking that and I told her that she must have been thinking REALLY loud! Here's me and my roomie:


I can't wait to go back next year! We are trying to find another retreat to go to in the fall. And Melissa and I are talking about going on a cruise together. Life is good.